Chapter Ten: The Mission From Hell

String sat in Michael's office waiting for him to finish the call he was on. He could only imagine what he wanted with him. Usually when Michael asked him here instead of meeting him at the hanger it meant he was not going to like what Michael had to say.

"Sorry about that Hawke. I didn't think Zeus would ever shut up."

"Why don't you just tell me why you called me here." String said as he moved around impatiently in the chair as if he would rather be somewhere else.

"I have a job I need you to do and it involves Airwolf. Six months ago we uncovered the existence of a small plane with highly advanced stealth capabilities. We had been in constant contact with the man who designed her until two days ago."

"So you want me to find this missing man?" String said as he started to get up. "I'm not a private eye. I suggest you try the yellow pages."

"Hawke can you for once just let me finish before you dismiss me?" Michael said with irritation in his tone. "This plane is a threat to our national security. If it falls into the hands of terrorist or drug lords we could face some serious issues."

String sat back down. Now Michael had his attention. "I'm listening. Tell me what I need to do."

"What I need you to do is take the test pilot that was on this project and go pick the plane up. We think the man we were working with is in Mexico somewhere. We don't know if he is trying to sell the plane to questionable people or if he was taken. What we do know is the general location of the plane."

"Ok, just tell me who, where and when." String replied.

"Hawke, I need to let you know first that the pilot is Roan. She had been working for the company that built it."

Now everything was making sense to String. He was beginning to think that Roan just showing up out of nowhere had more to do with the Firm then wanting to start back where they had left off.

"I know what you are thinking and you are wrong. I didn't plant Roan here. I had no idea that Zeus even knew her. I do believe her timing was nothing more than a coincidence. After she was finished testing the plane she was looking for work. I checked this out thoroughly. Although I do think she had designs on you and Airwolf. I just wished Cait wouldn't have bought into her scheme. She made it too easy on Roan by walking away."

String stood up thinking what his next move would be. "I'll let you knowl. This just isn't my decision. Dom or Sinj would need to go with me."

"Fair enough. But think about this, we need to move on this as soon as possible. That plane is sitting out there for anyone to take. It needs to be us that get's to it first."

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"Ah no String, no way in hell I'm going to fly a mission with that woman." Dom said as he was wildly waving his arms around. "If I had to be cooped up with her in that close a space, one of us won't be coming back alive. Now I don't want to hear any more of it." Dom said as he stomped out of the office.

"I guess you're it" String said looking to St. John.

"I guess I am" He replied.

Dom had not been in a good mood since the day he received the wedding invitation in the mail three days ago. It hit them all hard. Dom was open about his disappointment that she was really not coming back. St. John was still hopeful that she would change her mind. String on the other hand had resigned to the fact that he had lost her and needed to move on.

He had made his mind up a month ago when they sat around the fire after St. John's talk with him that he was going to go get her. Before he had the chance they had received the news that Cait and Tom were engaged. Dom found out when he called to see how she was doing. She had cheerfully told him that they would all be invited to the wedding and she hoped they could come. This angered String. It was like asking a condemned man to drive himself to the execution and be expected to actually show up. Words could not convey the grief he felt. He had no one to blame but himself.

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Michael had pinned down the actual location of the missing plane. They still had no idea what had happened to its designer. It was if he fell off the face of the earth. This made String nervous. He was not sure how reliable the information was that they had received.

"Where are we picking up Roan?" St. John asked from the engineer's seat. They neither one trusted Roan enough to let her near the lair and had her drive to a location that was fifty miles from the lair and deserted.

"It's a spot just fifty miles from here that I use from time to time when I meet with Michael. It's pretty secure." String replied.

St. John had grown accustomed to the silence when flying the lady with him. He was still amazed at the skill String possessed. He could fly Airwolf but not the way String did and thought maybe no one else out there would be able to as well. He had a connection to her that was not normal. Almost as if they could somehow read each other's thoughts. Cait had almost the same ability. She was not as skilled as String but close. She was also better at the engineer's seat as well. St. John thought that was because she knew String so well and knew how to work with his moods.

"There she is." String said as he sat Airwolf down.

The men got out and St. John handed her a flight suit. "You can change in here" he said.

Roan was speechless. She was never this close to Airwolf. Now she wanted more than anything to pilot her. She made up her mind that she would approach Zeus again after this mission. Being on a successful mission with Hawke would provide her with more leverage.

Once in the Air Roan was the first to speak. "So what's the plan" She asked excited.

String knew he had a job to do so he needed to keep it professional. "Once we use tubos it will take us thirty-eight minutes to arrive at the coördinates we were given. We are to meet our contact a man named Kyle. He will take us to the air strip where the plane is being kept. Once I see that it is secure I will have St. John met us there."

"Why not just have St. John follow us in?" She asked

"Because our instructions were to come alone with our contact. Once you are in the air I will have St. John pick me up and we will escort you." He then gave St. John the command to engage tubos.

Airwolf shot forward and Roan thought she was going to lose her lunch. This was not the way she thought it would be. She wanted to be able to enjoy the experience but the ground quickly rising up to meet them made her too nervous to look.

"Hawke" She managed to say as she was pulling up on an imaginary stick in front of her. "You need to pull up. You're to close to the ground."

String ignored her, St. John rolled his eyes. Did she really just give String advice on how to fly this thing?

Thirty-eight minutes later they were landing in Mexico at a deserted house. "Sinj scan and let me know who's down there."

"Already done. Just the one guy is all I see. No fire power around either."

String and St. John exited Airwolf. Roan lagged a little as her legs were shaking. String turned looking to Airwolf letting her know she was taking too much time and he was getting impatient. It was all he could do on the flight to keep from saying something to her. She kept pulling up on her imaginary stick the whole time like he was some sixteen year old learning to drive for the first time and the person riding with him was stomping the floor with their foot as if they had control over the brakes. It had really pissed him off. Cait was never like this he thought. He remembered the first time she was on a mission. They were engaged it a gun battle. She was high on adrenalin and asking when the next mission was. All Roan did was take a half hour flight across the border.

A Man with dark hair approached them."Hi, I'm Kyle. Archangel send you?"

"Yeah" String said holding out his hand to greet him. He didn't offer any names. The less these people knew about them the better.

"Some bird you got there." Kyle said running his hands down Airwolf. "What are the chances of me getting a ride in her?"

"Slim to none." Was String's reply. "Can we get going now? I would like to have that plane out of here in under an hour."

"Sorry, follow me. I have a jeep over here. It will take about twenty minutes to get there. The plane is ready for takeoff." Kyle said.

"I'll be the judge of that" Roan replied back.

String and St. John both shot her a dirty look. They had instructed her as they landed not to engage in any conversation with anyone. They felt it was safer the less these people knew and the only way to make sure they did not get any unnecessary information was to keep quiet. String was getting that nagging feeling in his gut that something was going to go wrong.

The jeep pulled up to a small airstrip. There was a rundown hanger where String thought the plane had to be because it was not on the runway waiting to take off like they were told. Feeling uneasy he took the safety off his gun nodding to Roan to do the same.

"When we get to the plane I want you to do the fastest flight check you have ever done." He instructed Roan. She nodded that she understood. Her nerves were getting the best of her. Truth be told she was scared. The mission didn't turn out to be so adventurous and romantic as she thought before. They could really get killed here.

Several men came out of the hanger. They were carrying fire arms but did not have them drawn. That still did not put String at ease.

"Gentleman" String greeted them. "Is there someone in charge here?"

"I am" A big man with brown curly hair stepped up. He had tattoos all over and looked like someone String would like to avoid. "You got money?" The man asked.

"Money" String said looking confused. String was realizing these men were not who they were to be meeting. "Don't know what you're talking about. I'm here on behalf of the United States government to take possession of that plane. Where are the men we were supposed to meet?"

The big man spit on the ground and then chuckled. "Ah, they took a wrong turn several miles back. I don't think you should wait for them." All the other men started laughing.

Hovering over head St. John was listening in. He knew String was in trouble. One thing he knew he had was the element of surprise on his side He began the dive down he headed for the landing strip. He knew that String would hear the Lady approach before the men would. As soon as Airwolf swooped down the men turned their attention towards Airwolf drawing their weapons and firing on her. String pushed Kyle and Roan toward cover. As they were heading for a small out building several yards away one of the men turned and started chasing them. String heard a shot and turned to see Kyle go down. He ran back towards him. Roan was already behind the building. String reached down to help Kyle up. He could see he was too late. He was dead. String looked up in time to see the man run toward him. He did not have enough time to react. The man held his gun on String. String looked around assessing the situation. They were alone, the other men had not even noticed they ran. They were too busy shooting at Airwolf. The man had his back to Roan and was not aware she was behind the shed. String waited for her to shoot but nothing happened. By this time two other men ran over grabbing String pulling him out in the open holding a gun to his head letting St. John know to back off. St. John could see Roan running to some trees without being detected. The men were so shook up from Airwolf that they could barley function and had forgotten about her. He held Airwolf long enough for her to get further away. Seeing that St. John was not backing off the men pushed String to his knees putting a gun to his head as if they were going to execute him. Now he knew what his brother had felt that day in Iraq when he had no other choice but to leave him. St. John pulled up and took off in the direction of Roan. "Please God, keep him safe until I can get back." He said silently to himself. He wanted to throw up.

Roan stayed down in the grass until St. John had landed. Climbing in she quickly closed the door.

"What the hell happened out there?' St John demanded.

"I don't know. One minute Hawke was behind me and then he was gone. There was nothing I could do." She lied.

"Like hell there was nothing you could do. I saw the whole thing, you could have easily shot that man at any time and String would be here now if you had."

Roan broke down sobbing. "I was afraid OK?" "You two may be use to people shooting at you but I'm not."

"You're the one that wanted to play operative Roan." St. John replied as he headed out of there to go get help to rescue String.